Telepher



Patented July 14, 1885.

S H OWENS TELEPHER.

v l All STAT-Es SIDNEY II. lOWENS, OF CHURGHLAND, VIRGINIA.

TELEPHER..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 322,392, dated July 14,1885.

Application filed December 22, 1884. (No model.)

.To all whom t may concern/.-

ful Improvements in Telephers, of which the following is aspecification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to that class of elevators which laim to elevatevertically, and then over an incline, and are so constructed that aperson can by their use convey a bucket or other receptacle somedistance, then let it descend to receive its load, then elevate it, andthen bring it back to its original startingpoint; and the inventionconsists in certain novel features of construction and combination ofparts, which will be hereinafter explained fully. I propose to call mydevice a telepher.7

Figure l shows the vehicle carrying a vessel between the point ofdelivery and a point vertically above the place of supply, the standardover the water, the wire supporting the vehicle, and therope runningfrom the bucket and connecting it with the power at the point ofdelivery. Fig. 2 shows the position of parts while the vessel issupported by the vehicle. Fig. 3 shows the position of parts immediatelyafter impact on the standard, but before tilting of vibrating plate hastaken place by action of coiled-wire spring. This position re leases thevessel, which may then be lowered to the burden.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures.

Fig. 1 shows a wire attached at one end to an abutment, hereinafter to be described, at a point which is substantially vertically above thewater or burden, and at its opposite end to some suitable support atthepoint of delivery. This wire is inclined so that the vehicle will bemoved by gravity toward the abutment.

p p are grooved pulleys traversing the `wire and connected t0 thevehicle, which is suspended below the wire. Under some circumstances Ipropose to use two wires side by side, at a short distance apart, inwhich case four grooved wheels will be used, two on one Side of thevehicle and two on the other.

The vehicle is a box consisting of two side boards,'a top, and a bottom.This box is supported upon the wire by the grooved wheels p p. Withinthis box and to the top is fastened a grooved wheel, h. In the bottom ofthe box is a circular hole, h, so placed relatively to the grooved wheelabove it that the rope which runs from thewindlass to the bucket, Fig.3, will play through that hole Just below the left side of the groovedwheel. The frustum of a cone, 7c, securely fastened to the rope, so asnot to slip` either up nor down is a cross-bar attached at the forwardend of this sliding and vibrating plate, the ends of the cross-barprojecting some distance beyond the sides of the vehicle. At the otherend of the sliding and vibrating plate is another crossbar, e e. Thissliding and vibrating plate is longer than the box, so that when pushedforward 1t projects, as in Fig. 2, and when pushed backward it takes theposition seen in Fis. 3. This sliding and vibrating plate has a hole init whose breadth is the diameter of the hole h, but whose length is suchthat no part of the sliding and vibrating plate can cover any part ofthe holeh, whether the sliding and vibrating plate be pushed forward orbackward.` Over the right-hand half of this opening in the sliding andvibrating plate is laid a slotted metal trap hinged in the line a. b andscrewed to the sliding and vibrating plate.

l 2 3 4 are strap-springs which press the sliding and vibrating plateforward.

w .r is a coiled-wire spring, fastened to the sliding and vibratingplate and at w to the inside of the top of the vehicle, carriage, orbox. When the sliding and vibrating plate is relieved of the weight ofthe bucket, this coiled-wire spring tilts up the forward end of thesliding and vibratingv plate, the rear end being kept down by thecross-bar u '11. The rod c e restricts the forward play of the slidingand vibrating plate, and the rod z z restricts its backward movement,and also serves, when this plate is tilted up, to lock IOO the plate,and so the vehicle or carriage, to the hooks I, seen ou standard in Fig.l.

The two hooks in standard or abutment, Fig. 1, are so placed that thevehicle may enter between them, and that the forward end of thevibrating and sliding plate 'may impinge on the standard on a line justbelow the tips ofthe verticallydepressed hooks, the locking bar or rod ez just clearing these tips i in approaching to and in receding from thestandard or abutment B Fig. l shows the position of the bucket, and Fig.2 shows the position of the vehicle and appurtenances, while the vehicleis traversing the wire, carrying the vessel or bucket sus pended.

The momentum acquired by gravitation down the inclined wire carries thevehicle toward the standard B, and when it has approached near enough tothe standard to bring the front end of the sliding plate in contact.

with the standard B the forward movement of the said plate is arrested,while the vehicle continues to move on until the sliding and vibratingplate has taken, in relation to the bottom of the vehicle, carriage, orbox, the position shown in Fig. 2. rlhe frustum of the cone, before thisresting on the metal trap, and so supporting the bucket, being carriedforward and oft the metal trap, falls through hole h, and the weight ofthe vessel or bucket is thrown on the wheel h. The tension of the ropecauses the vehicle to recede from the standard, the sliding andvibrating plate is tilted at its forward end by action of thecoiled-wire spring w the bar a z is thrown up under the hooks t t', andthe vehicle is thereby locked to the standard B. The vessel or bucket gis now lowered to the burden by paying out rope from the windlass. Afterthe vessel has received its burden, the operator winds up the rope onthe windlass, the vessel ascends until the frustum of the cone entersthe hole 11 lifts the metal-hinged trap, and

arrests the further winding of the rope by refusing to pass the wheel p.The operator relaxes the rope, the frustum of the cone k fallsand isarrested by the metal trap, the weight of vessel and contents pulls downthe tilted slide, the lockingbar z z is released from the hooks t' t',and the operator resumes the winding of the rope which draws the vehicleand vessel to the point of delivery.

The excellence, practical utility, and value of my device is due to thefact that only one point of impact is required for accomplishing twonecessary things-viz., the unlocking of the vessel and the locking ofthe vehicle; that the locking of the vehicle is the inevitable result ofthe unlocking of the vessel; that the locking of the vessel to thevehicle inevitably unlocks the vehicle, and, consequently, miscarriageis impossible.

What I claim isl. rJhe combination of a rectangular frame, groovedwheels secured upon the top thereof, transverse bar u c, secured to thesides of said traine, and iiat metal springs l 2 3 4, with the slidingplate w, having end bar, z z', and coiled spring 5', adapted to elevateone end of said sliding plate, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

2. The combination of a rectangular frame, grooved wheels secured uponthe top thereof, and springs secured at one end to said frame, with thesliding plate x, having laterally-projecting bar z z', the slotted traphinged upon said plate, the coiled spring 5, secured to the slidingplate and to the top plate of frame, and the standard B, having hooks Ithereon pointing downward, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SIDNESLT H. OWENS.

Witnesses J. N. WILLIS, LEWIS PURYEAR.

